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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Mama's!!! TAKE BACK YOUR KITCHENS!!!

I know I hound. I know I preach... I know I sound like a broken record... but times are dire for kids and their diets... There's way too much out there to entice and beckon to people to "eat this", "It's healthy cuz it has one grain in it" and "isn't this a pretty colored drink?... drink me!"

Mama's... YOU are in control of your kitchens... EVEN IF YOU AREN'T HOME!!!! If you are the one buying the groceries... YOU are the one in control... WHAT YOU BUY... ENDS UP IN YOUR CHILD... and if your child isn't as healthy as you'd like him to be... CHANGE YOUR BUYING HABITS...

Look... I'm one of those Mom's that couldn't care LESS if my kids want a certain sugary cereal, or a prepackaged, 54 gram of fat, HORRENDOUS Lunchable, or Pop Tarts... "because they like them"... No Freaking way! EVEN BEFORE our new way of eating... I have never, ever purchased a box of Pop Tarts. When my boys were little... and the commercials for those foods came on the TV... mine would make snide little comments about how mean I was that I won't buy them, and how much they wanted them... It all fell on deaf ears...

Just because I have a weight problem... doesn't mean my kids need to have one too.

I've never been a soda drinker... but my husband sure was... and he would buy liter after liter of Pepsi, or Moutain Dew and stash them in our backyard fridge... the kids, as they got older...wanted to drink it too... and when Mom was gone... out came the glasses and the pop.

Hubby and I had a long, loooonnnng looooooooong "talk" about how what we eat and drink directly affects and influences our children... not to mention the empty calories and intestine and kidney eating effects of drinking sugary, fizzy drinks... As my husband's job became more demanding, and he spent more time at work, and I was able to take over FULL control of the shopping as the kids got older and I wasn't breastfeeding a baby anymore... the soda drinking has come to an abrupt HALT... I even got our Pediatrician involved and asked him to use some scare tactics about soda and eating junk food too often to help dissuade the kids... and it helped...

If you want your kids and grand kids to eat heathily... STOCK YOUR HOUSE WITH HEALTHY foods... it's that simple... Talk to your kids about calories, and making them count, and talk to them about how our kidneys work 10 times harder to filter soda and sugary juices, and we only have 2 kidneys, and if one shuts down... life can be hard...
Tell them how much better they'll do in school by eating more fruits and veggies, and to only eat junk food on Birthdays and major holidays... with lots of healthy stuff mixed in... Tell them how many less tummy aches and headaches they'll have by eating good food. Tell them how they won't break out in zits as often as kids who eat junk a lot. Feed them positives like that... and you'll start to have good eaters.

Our goal to have good eaters shouldn't be to just have kids that eat whatever is put in front of them... because waaaay too many parents are feeding their kids processed, junk from a box, can or pouch... but to have kids that make good choices...even when faced with a bad choice...

I want my kids to choose water over soda... fruit over chips... homemade over processed... yogurt over ice cream... MOST of the time... I know it's unrealistic to have them choose the best ALL the time... but good habit making is a long arduous process.. that is totally WORTH the time... because the time it takes to do it and do it well... ADDS YEARS TO THEIR LIVES!!! Good... healthy... never have to see the Dr. years.

So Mama... get out your pen and paper... and make a list of things you want your kids to eat on a regular basis... AND BUY THEM! Now... remember all those other things you USED to buy...that they loved? The chips, Cheetos, soda, Pop Tarts, Lunchables, sugary cereals, sugary oatmeal packets, Gogurts, Fruit Roll ups... etc???
DON'T BUY THOSE... really. You'll hear some whining... some crying... and maybe some unkind words... but chalk it up to DETOXING. Those food are ADDICTIVE for a reason... they are DRUGS.. and HORRIBLE for your kids... And please, please, please, please, please... NO ASPARTAME, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYPUP, SPLENDA, OR TRUVIA.. for the kids...

Buy grapes, and melon, and frozen fruit that you can whiz up in a blender, and whole grain crackers and REAL cheese, and good peanut butter and all fruit jams, and REAL meat... not the junk in the shrink wrap...

Sound expensive? Think again...your grocery bill and your medical bills will GO DOWN... and so will the mood swings, and acne, and weight gain, and fatigue. You will see bright eyes... energy... better hair, good teeth, self esteem, looser clothing... and better grades...

Mama... its up to you... it always has been. If you are wondering why the kids aren't as healthy and slim and energetic as they should be...it's because of the pantry... plain and simple...

Let me know if there is any way I can help you... email me...I'm here...